Producing oil and/or gas wells are protected from fires by a variety of equipment such as manually actuated control valves, surface safety valves and subsurface safety valves. Nevertheless, fires do occur in which all of the control equipment on the well fails to close and hold.
The present apparatus and method is directed to a safety shear which is used as the final safety device after all others have failed. The present apparatus stays on the well and does not interfere with the well's operation and remains as the safety device until the well is shut in and abandoned. The present apparatus may be used on wells with multiple wellheads. The safety shear rams and operating mechanisms are not exposed to corrosive or abrasive well fluids and thus can be easily inspected, maintained and repaired without killing the well, but are available to shear the tubing and seal the well bore in the event of an emergency.
The present safety shear apparatus and method can be used in various configurations and in particular to configurations in which the wellhead is located remote from the production area, which is the most likely area for well fires, in order to keep fire from the wellhead. As additional safety precautions, the safety shear apparatus includes valved inlets to the well bore which are located in protective locations for killing the well. And the present safety system allows the well tubing to be pulled without removing the safety shear apparatus.